"I started to think about the roles that women play, women who have achieved something. I wanted to make a classic set of portraits," said Leibovitz. "I thought that the women should look strong but natural, and I decided to keep it a very simple exercise of shooting in the studio. This calendar is so completely different. It is a departure. The idea was not to have any pretence in these pictures and be very straightforward."

Since its debut in 1964, Leibovitz is one of only four female photographers who have ever lensed the Pirelli calendar, and is the first to turn her back on the sultry-appeal, favouring a more demure approach for the 2016 edition, which is being hailed as "radical and inspirational departure from previous years."